Process of winding electrical coils.



' PATENTED AMAY 12, 1903.

AR. VARLEY. PRocEss OPWINDING BLBGTRIGAL ooILs.

No. '728,183I

Snom/toa SH01/mug Io ing coils for electrical purposes; and it con-UNITED STATES Patented May 12, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD VARLEY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO VARLEY DUPLEXMAGNET CO., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS OF WINDING ELECTRICAL COILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 728,183, dated May 12,1903. Application iiled February l2,190.3. :Serial No. 141,857. (Nospecimens.)

T all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD VAELEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Providence, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processesof Winding Electrical Coils, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to processes of windsists of a special'processfor winding coils of the character described in a companion applicationiled of even date, Serial No. 141,856. The coil described in saidapplication consists in general of a unit of winding in the form of adisk or flat spiral, the convolutions being Wound successively over eachother and being all in the same plane, substantially at right angles tothe axis of zo the coil. The wire is in the form of flat ribbon, theturns of which are insulated from each other byan enamel or vitreousmaterial. The process hereinafter described and claimed consists ingeneral in simultaneously winding the ribbon wire and a mechanicalseparator, the latter thus being interposed between the turns of thewire. When the winding operation is finished, a portion of themechanical separator is removed, and 3o the open space left thereby isfilled with a plastic material adapted to become enamel or of a vitreousnature when heated, after which the remainder of the mechanicalseparator is removed and the space left thereby also filled with thesaid plastic material. The coil. is

then placed in an oven and baked at a suitable temperature for a giventime to transform the plastic material into a hard vitreous material,which thus becomes an insulator 4o capable of withstanding hightemperatures adapting the coil to carry abnormally-high currents whichwould destroy cotton, silk, or other ordinary kinds of insulatingmaterial. Such a coil is eminently adapted for arclamps, transformers,and other apparatus where the electromagnets are subjected at times toexcessive currents.

My improved process will now be described with reference tothe'accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view ofone ofthe finished units of winding. Fig. 2 illustrates conventionallythe essential apparatus for winding the units. Fig. 3 shows a section oftbe-Winding-spool and a portion of the coil thereon, and Fig. 1lillustrates the manner of applying the permanent insulating material.

Asbefore stated, the wire is in the form of ribbon, and the first stepof the process (although not an essential one) preferably con- 6o sistsin rolling round wire of known gage into fiat form, so that thecross-sectional area of the ribbon will correspond with that of theround Wire, the carrying capacity of which is known. As one of theobjects of the inven- 6,5

tion is to be able to wind as large a number of turns as possible in agiven cubical space, the dat wire is preferred, and for the same reasonit is preferable,if possible, to wind this Wire bare, and eithersimultaneously or 7o after the winding operation apply an insulatingmaterial which will occupy much less space in the coil than would beoccupied by the insulation it applied to the wire previous to thewinding operation. Hence in carryingout my process I lead the bare' tlatwire (indicated by a) from a suitable reel (not shown) to awinding-spool A on a driven shaft B. This spool has a winding-space bbetween its anges of such width as to just 8o ad mit the flat wire.Having properly secured the end of the wire to the hub of the spool,and, possibly, Wound one or Inore initial turns, a number of silkthreads c, leading from as many spools c', are threaded through 85 eyesc2 in a guide-plate c3, and thence with their ends all securedtogetherside by side by a bit of wax or equivalent material are insertedunder the Wire at the tangent point and the shaft then rotated. Thisoperation 9o simultaneously winds the threads and the wire upon thespool, there being a number of threads arranged side by side betweenevery two convolutions of wire, the thread thus acting as a mechanicalseparator. The number and thickness of the threads will of.V coursedepend upon the requiren'ients. The thickness is more important, becauseit determines the thickness of the permanept insulating material,whereas the number of threads can be two or more,; provided they aredistributed across the space from edge to edge of the wire in a mannerto evenly support the turns. The six threads shown are of very fine silkand are used with a flat wire of about three thirty-seconds Yof an inchin width. The winding-shaft can be driven at high speed and the actualwinding operation accomplished very quickly. Yifhen completed, the endsof the strands aregsevered and secured in any convenient manner, afterwhich the coil is removed from the spool. Then by means of a hookedneedle one-half of Vthe threads between the turns are drawn out from oneside of the coil. For instance, where six Ythreads are used side by sidethe three on one side-of the coil are drawn out laterally, leaving anempty space between the wires throughout one side of the coil, theconvolutions being still supported by the ether three threads. Thisempty space is then iilled with material, as shown to the left in 4,preferably in a plastic state, but capable of being reduced to avitreous condition or to an Yenamel by the application of a properameunt of heat. The plastic material can be rubbed in with the finger,or it can be forced in by suitable mechanicalappliances. Havingappliedthe plastic material to one side of the coil, the three threads on theother-side arenthen withdrawn, thus leaving the convolutions separatedand supported by the plastic material in the first half. Then plasticmaterial of the same character is inserted into the empty space left bythe last three threads, as shown to the right in Fig. 4, and the. coilis then ready for baking. The bakingof the coil at comparatively lowtemperatures drives out the moisture and reduces the plastic material toa vitreous mass, which while effectually separating and insulating theturns of wire from each other also solidies and strengthens thestructure.

The coil thus constructed will stand a temperature which will almostmelt the copper. without destroying or injuring the insulation.

In place of the silk threads referred to cotton, paper, or othermaterial may be used. In fact, my invention includes the use of anytemporary mechanical separator which is substituted afterward by thepermanent enamel. It is also pointed out that in so far as this idea ofusing a temporary separator between the turns of a coil to be afterwarddisplaced by a permanent insulating material is concerned the inventionextends to the formation of electric coils of ordinary character and isnot necessarily confined to those coils which are made up as flatspirals.

Having described my invention, I claiml. The process of Windingfandinsulating electrical coils which consistsin simultaneously Winding aconductor and a separating medium for the turns thereofgthen removingthe separating medium and substituting permanent insulating materialtherefor.

2. The process of winding and insulating electrical coils which consistsin simultaneously winding a conductor and a separating medium for theturns thereof, then removing a portion of the separating medium andsubstituting permanent insulation therefor and then removingntheremainderof the separating medium and substituting permanent insulationtherefor, as set forth.

3. The process of Winding and insulating electrical coils whichconsists-in simultaneously winding a conductor and a separating mediumfor the turns thereof iinto a flat spiral or disk in which the turnsiareall in one plane at right angles to the axis, then removing theseparating medium and substituting permanent insulating materialtherefor.

Y et. The process of winding and insulating electrical coils whichconsists in simultaneously winding a conductor and a separating mediumfor the turns thereof into a at spiral or disk in which the turnsare allin one plane at right angles to the axis, then removing a portion of theseparating-medium and substituting permanent insulation therefor andthen-removing the remainder of the separating medium and substitutingpermanent insulation therefor.

,A 5. The process of Winding and insulating electrical coils whichconsists in simultaneously winding a conductor and a separating mediumfor the turns thereof, then removing the separating medium andsubstituting permanent insulating material in a plastic state butadapted to become hard.

6. The process of winding and insulating electrical coils which consistsin winding bare wire into a coil and then inserting an insulatingmaterial between the convolutions thereof.

7. The process of winding and insulating electrical coils which consistsin Winding bare wire into a coil and then inserting an insulatingmaterialbetween the convolutionsthereof, said insulating material beingin a plastic state and adapted to become vitreous when subjected toheat.

8. The process of Winding and insulating electrical coils which consistsin winding bare wire into a flat spiral or disk in which the turns areall in one plane at right angles to the axis, then inserting aninsulating material in plastic state between the turns of the coil, saidmaterial adapted to become vitreous when subjected to heat and thenbaking the coil, substantially as described.

9. The process of winding and insuiating electrical coils which consistsin simultaneously winding a flat wire and a plurality of strands orthreads, so that the strands or IIO vthreads will alternate withtheturns of Wire moved and substituted by the said insulatand separatethe same, the said turns of wire ing material. lo being located in oneplane at right angles to In witness whereof I subscribe my signaf theaxis of Winding, then successively removture in presence of twoWitnesses.

ing one or more of the threads from the coil RICHARD VARLEY. andsubstituting for cach removed thread or Witnesses: threads a permanentinsulating material un- WILLETT OHADWICK,

til nally all of the threads have 'been re- M. M. CROSWELL.

